Pinky Promises
by Dominick Disaster
Summary: He'd never felt more grown up than the instant he first held his new sister.


**Title:** Pinky Promises  
**Series/Disclaimer:** Resident Evil, which I don't own.  
**Pairing/Characters:** Chris Redfield & Claire Redfield  
**Warnings:** I think I should warn for cute.

**Author's Note: **This is a much belated giftfic for my best friend, beta, and generally awesome partner, isten_kardja on LJ! She turned 22 on the 18th of this month and I promised I would write her a giftfic. Based on a 15-words-or-less meme that I did on LJ, she gave me the prompt of Chris holding his baby sister for the first time. Which was adorable and wonderful and I was all too happy to write, even if it did give me some difficulty. Do you have any idea how hard it is to write for someone who's usually your beta? XD I had no one to check it against!

The idea of "pinky promises" came from my head-canon concerning Claire, where she always has Chris make her various pinky promises. Mostly because she knows that Chris would never break a promise to her and won't make a promise he can't keep (if you watch in Resident Evil Code Veronica: X, Chris refuses to promise he won't leave her alone again because he has to bring down Umbrella). It's lame and childish, but it's cute and I think is a very brother-sister type of thing to do.

So, I hope you all enjoy, because I know Natalie did~ 3

- x - x - x -

He had been in and out of airports throughout his entire life and hadn't yet grown used to their claustrophobic atmosphere. They always made him feel rushed or panicked, like he forgot something and should check his bag another nine times before he got on the plane. Even now, when he wasn't the one going anywhere, he felt like he should have been doing something other than leaning against the wall outside Gate 6. Other people were waiting around him; they kept checking their watches and looking around. Their fiddling only served to facilitate his own tendency to fidget. He tried crossing his arms to keep from flexing his hands – his foot started bouncing instead.

Chris exhaled a soft "Thank god" to himself when unfamiliar people started pouring from the entryway. He was glad that he had something to put his focus into, but most of his relief came from the fact that the plane had landed safely. Without a television near him, there was a suspended state of just not knowing until he saw the people coming through the right gate. Sure, there was that female voice over the intercom that updated the entire airport on the current goings-on of various planes, but somehow he couldn't imagine it saying "Flight 23 has crashed, there are no survivors."

Eyes scanned over the crowd with a keen attention to detail that unfortunately lead him to being distracted by a lady who looked like she had a goose sprouting from her head. He was pretty sure it was just a hat but –

"Chris!"

He barely had time to turn before Claire was on him in the literal sense of the word. Her arms tucked tightly around his neck as she threw her weight into him, just enough to make him stumble back a few steps and move his arms up to make sure she didn't fall. After the shock wore off he chuckled, hugging her more securely.

"Glad to see you too, Claire."

When her feet touched the ground again, his little sister pulled back and showed him a grin that spread as far across her features as her facial muscles would allow. If Chris thought he stood a chance, he might have tried to match it, but instead reached for one of the bags on her shoulder which she gave up without complaint. He put one arm through one of the straps and put the other arm around Claire's shoulders, pulling her close as he turned to head for the exit. Other people met up with loved ones around them, feeling the same relief and excitement that he was. It was almost a group mentality – his previous tension felt eased.

"Jet-lagged?"

Claire shrugged, "Not really. Starving, though."

He pried his keys out of his pants pocket as they slipped out the automatic doors, but he found plenty of opportunity to frown at her while he tried to find the key to his Jeep.

"You didn't eat?"

"Of course not. You promised to take me to that awesome burger place for lunch, remember?"

The instant she said 'promised,' the memory resurfaced and he nodded, looking back at his keys. Why did he have so many of them? "Right, I remember. I just didn't think you wanted to go _now_."

"What better time than the present?" She smiled, sliding out from under the weight of his arm as they got to the Jeep.

He laughed slightly. Typical Claire. "I guess so."

She leaned against the car as he finally nabbed the right key, unlocking the back and tossing her bag in. Her voice was somewhat mocking when she spoke, but there was an edge of seriousness to it.

"I thought you forgot or something."

"No, no. I remember."

"Of course you do." The instant he turned to look at her, there was a pinky finger hovering not-so-far from his face and he blinked. For a moment he'd gone cross-eyed. "You pinky promised."

Claire couldn't have had a more matter-of-fact voice if she had been telling someone her own name. She wiggled the digit expectantly and Chris brought his hand up with a playful roll of his eyes. "Exactly. And I always make good on my promises."

When he hooked his pinky around hers, she gave a solid nod of her head and turned to make her way around to the passenger side. To this day he didn't know where she got the idea for making "pinky promises" from, nor why she was so fond of it. But he just shook his head and slid into the driver's seat, deciding that lunch didn't sound like such a bad idea.

x – x – x – x

Small legs kicked off the side of the chair, swinging his feet in boredom as he fiddled with the toy jet in his hand. The black plastic that encased the cockpit had hinges that he used to continually open and close it with a sharp '_snap!' _He was trying to keep from looking at the nurse that was watching him.

Chris didn't much like hospitals, but it wasn't for the same reasons adults didn't like them. The word "sterile" wasn't part of his vocabulary and he'd gotten used to the fact that pretty much all adults – except his parents, of course – were kinda weird. So, the doctors and nurses didn't really freak him out.

He didn't like them because they were boring. There was a little kids' area he could play in that had things like books and stuff for coloring, but he didn't like doing that at home. He preferred running around outside or getting his dad to spin him through the air in a game of airplane to sitting still and _coloring_. He remembered overhearing his dad tell his mom that, "I bet dollars to doughnuts, Chris is the most active kid on the planet." The six-year-old was rather proud of the title.

But at the thought of his father, he looked in the direction his dad had last disappeared to, considering standing on the chair to see if he could find him. Though he had promised he would be right back, to Chris it felt like ages ago and he was getting even more bored. Not only that, but he missed his mom. Last night had happened in such a rush that he didn't even wake up until his dad was passing him over to the neighbor and saying something about the hospital and labor. He was too tired then, but when he woke up he remembered her telling him a few days ago that the baby was supposed to come soon.

He sank a little bit more in his seat and looked back at the jet in his hand, pinching the cockpit closed again just as the nurse started talking.

"Are you excited about your mom having her baby, Chris?" She leaned forward and pushed her glasses up her nose. He pressed his lips together for a minute so he could puff his cheeks out.

He was_ kind of_ excited, but his stomach hurt a little bit too much to make him bouncing around in his seat the way he did when they were going to the park. He remembered when he had his first day of school and his stomach hurt. His mom said he had "butterflies in his basket" and at first he didn't understand – mostly because he didn't _have_ a basket – but then she told him he was just nervous. She promised he'd feel better when he got home and while Chris still didn't know what being nervous had to do with butterflies and baskets, she had been right. But moms were always right anyway.

He nodded, keeping his attention on his jet. "Yeah. Kinda."

"Kinda?" Chris looked up as she moved, taking the seat next to him and leaning on the arm of the chair. "You're going to be a big brother! Doesn't that make you happy?"

His stomach lurched and he just nodded, looking back down at his jet. The nurse stayed quiet for a while and when she started talking again, her voice was softer.

"Are you nervous?"

When he didn't say anything, she kept talking.

"I was nervous when my little brother was born too. But you know what?" She elbowed him slightly and Chris looked up at her. "The only thing that changed was that I had a new little brother to love."

He frowned, not sure if he really believed that. Ever since his mom got pregnant it seemed like everything was about the new baby. They had to go shopping all the time or they were at the doctor's, it was boring and stupid. Neither of them really had time to play with him with all the running around, and his mom couldn't do much except puzzles with him anymore. Not only that, but the old storage room he liked to play in had been cleaned out and turned into the baby's bedroom. _Everything _was changing.

Chris looked back at his jet again, turning it around in his hands as though it had its flight pattern thrown off by a cyclone.

"Are you going to teach her about jets?"

He blinked, looking up towards the nurse with suspicious but curious eyes.

"You can't teach a _baby_," he said, deprecatingly.

"Sure you can! Babies always want to learn new stuff," she smiled, noticing the way the mistrust melted away into interest and possible excitement. "And as a big brother, it's your job to teach her all kinds of things you already know."

"…Really?"

"Yep. You teach her things, watch her grow up and protect her – that's what being a big brother is all about. Didn't you know?"

Chris shook his head. His parents had only talked about what color to paint her room and baby names around him – none of it really seemed important. They hardly listened to him, and when they did he still didn't have much say in anything to do with his new sibling. They painted her room pink even though he said green was better, and they kept looking at girl names even though he wanted a baby brother. No one told him he was allowed to teach her things and he had been starting to think he couldn't even talk to her. She was just the new baby, and he was the old one.

"There's your dad." She pointed towards the hallway he had gone down forever ago. Chris looked and felt his stomach turn painfully, freezing him in the chair for a minute, "You ready to—"

"What if I'm not good at it?"

He didn't notice the urgency in his voice, like his dad was a schoolteacher and Chris didn't know the answer to the question he'd been asked. He twisted in his seat to look at her again, an expression of stress in his blue eyes. She blinked at him, seeming confused, but erased the concern with a smile.

"You'll be _great_, Chris. I can already tell."

"You can?"

She nodded and leaned forward, hugging him tightly. "I'm a big sister, remember? I can tell."

He didn't quite hug her back before she pulled away; his hands were too busy holding tightly onto his plastic jet.

"Chris, c'mon!" His dad called and he finally slid out of his seat, sneakers hesitantly hitting the floor. He waved to the nurse as he ran.

"Thanks!"

By the time he took his dad's hand, there was a distinct smile replacing the previous apprehension.

"What did you two talk about?"

Chris shrugged. Not because he didn't think it was important, but because it felt so important that he didn't think he should share it with anyone. "Big brother and sister stuff."

"Ah," his dad replied, voice lowering to acknowledge the importance of it. "I see. Anything important?"

"Are _you _a big brother, Dad?"

"Well, no–"

"Then nope!" He grinned up at father, who gave him a somewhat confused look before laughing and ruffling the short brunette hair.

"Top secret, huh?"

Chris felt his stomach twist into nervous knots again as they stepped into the hospital room, silencing his response. He tightened his hold on both the jet and the large hand he was holding onto, once again frozen to his spot the same way he had been in the lobby. The entire room looked pretty much the same as the one he'd just spent forever sitting in, so Chris didn't notice it much. His eyes and attention were far too absorbed looking at his mother, who he could just see over the edge of the bed. It took him a moment, but then he snapped out of the anxiety with a start.

"Mom!"

Letting go of his dad's hand, he ran towards her bed, his dad following with long strides. "Here, let me get the chair for you–"

"I got it!"

Chris ran to the chair near the bed suspended far above his head, scooting it closer with a quick shove so he could jump up on it. It wasn't until he was able to peer over the side that he realized the bundle of blankets in her arms. At first he was confused why his mom was holding a bunch of blankets and it wasn't until she shifted it and told him to be careful that he saw the squishy face of his new sister. He stopped trying to climb on the bed and just stared.

"Chris?" His mom's voice was quiet and soft, even though he could see that the baby was still awake. Maybe it was because of the almost distant look in her firstborn's eyes. "Chris, sweetie, this is your new baby sister."

He finally managed to look away from the pudgy face to his mom, and then back to his dad, who smiled a little bit at him. It was the same kind of smile he had when Chris started learning how to ride his bike: like he was telling him it was okay. His stomach started doing flips again.

"Can I hold her?"

For a minute, his mom looked like she was going to say no. But then she nodded, a familiar smile spreading across her face, "I think that would be okay. But I'm going to help you, alright? She's heavier than she looks."

He stopped listening after she said he could and started crawling onto the bed; his dad's footsteps sounded in the background so that by the time Chris looked up again, his mom was passing the baby off. She straightened up a bit before pulling Chris into her lap and wrapping her arms around him so she could show him how to fold his arms.

"You keep them like this; make sure you hold her head."

Instead of butterflies, it felt like an entire storm was going on in his belly and it hurt worse than any scraped knee he'd ever had. He'd almost broke his arm once and even _that _hurt less than his stomach right now. He watched as his dad started to set the bundle into the safety net of arms and almost told him to stop, as though his sister were a hot coal that stood every chance of burning him. There was a split second where he almost started to fidget, but then he felt her weight. It rested in his arms as her head was adjusted to lie against the crook of his elbow. Even with his mom's help she was still heavy, but Chris hardly noticed.

Suddenly his stomach stopped hurting all at once and he felt…bigger? The word didn't seem quite right but she _was_ much smaller than him. Her eyes were also a lot brighter than he first noticed. She was sort of puffy and red and funny looking but…

"What's her name?"

"Claire," his mom replied.

He leaned a little bit closer to her face, lowering his voice like he was telling her a secret. "Hi, Claire."

She didn't say anything, of course, but her hand reached out and groped at his cheek. He bet dollars to doughnuts her fingers were the smallest fingers in the world.

"I'm your brother, Chris," he continued, "And I'm going to take care of you."

He wiggled the arm not holding her head free, moving his hand out so she could grab it before realizing his hand was too big for hers. His pinky was the smallest, so he curled the rest of his hand in and held only it out, grinning as her little fingers curled around it. The perfect size. His head jerked up as his dad laughed.

"Look at that, your first promise to your little sister and she's barely a day old."

That was it, Chris decided. He didn't feel _bigger_, he felt _older_. Like a grown up. And even if Claire was sort of puffy and red and funny looking, she was his _sister_. His new baby sister. And the fact that he made his first promise to her at six, with a whole lifetime of possibilities in front of them, it didn't matter.

He _always _made good on his promises.

x – x – x – x

It felt too short for a whole week off, but it always did. Every time he found himself back in the airport he always said that next time Claire visited, he'd keep track of the days. But he didn't and never would. Laughter, dinners, movies, people watching – times and days disappeared into the void that was created. He didn't want to spend a second of it trying to remember what the date was; who knew what that second could have been spent on?

"You have to come visit me sometime," Claire said, squeezing his shoulders tightly with the usual reluctance to let go. "I don't want to be the only one that has to deal with planes for us to spend some time together."

"Hey, my job has me flying all over the world. I deal with planes enough." He chuckled and tightened his hold a bit, softening his voice. "But I'll find some time to brave a flight for you soon."

Both of their arms loosened, but they still didn't pull back right away. It wasn't until Claire's hands slid to his arms and she pushed back a bit that they really broke apart. "Promise?"

"Promise."

But just the word was never good enough. Her pinky lifted right in front of his nose, just like it always did, and it forced him to let her go. Otherwise, he might never have let her catch her flight, and Chris was positive she knew that. Claire had grown up, sometimes proving she was the more responsible of the two of them, but he held onto the fact that she couldn't grow out of being his sister no matter how hard she tried (and she didn't seem to try all that hard at all). The only thing that really changed was he didn't feel older when he hugged her anymore.

In reality, he felt small and kind of childish, never wanting to admit that he had to let her go. That, eventually, they had to say good-bye.

"Chris?" Claire's voice brought him back to reality again, her eyebrows raised though his focus was mostly on her hand. "Promise you'll visit soon?"

His pinky twisted around hers as he found her eyes – just as bright and clear as the day she was born.

"Promise."

And Chris Redfield had yet to break a pinky promise.


End file.
